FoodMan

Exactly. The bacteria might still be active for the first hour or more at 132 and causing lactic acid. It really is not much of a nuisance to heat a small pot of water to dunk the meat in though. Honestly, it's less of a hassle than pan searing IMO. Although in Douglas' method, I assumed the pan searing is also to contribute some flavor not just for safety or killing off bacteria. As far as frozen meat, I would think that meat would be bacteria free anyways, so the need to "clean the surface" is not that much of a necessity. I would do it with fresh-just bought or maybe meat that has been thawed already.

In Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck book, he devotes a few pages talking about meat cookery and Sous Vide specifically. He recommends dunking the vac packed meat in an 80 or 85 C water pot for about 30 seconds before cooking sous vide at a much lower temp (say 55 C). This he recommends is done to kill off any surface bacteria, specifically if memory serves Lactobacillus type, that could cause off flavor and odor. I've been doing that and have not had a problem with any long cooked piece of meat. So, the odd smell could be due to a surface bacteria that was present.

Maybe it's because my three year old is completely obsessed with "Charlie and the Chcocolate Factory" movie these days, but this immediately brought to mind Willy Wonka and his closure of the chocolate factory for a period of time. Let's hope Adria does not return with Oompa Loompas .

I guess it's a matter of opinion as to what is funny and what is not. Really? Taking money from an advertiser that has nothing to do with food is a selling out? The show still works the same way on screen as far as I can tell. I do not see them "toning it down" to appeal to a mass audience and the content is still as varied as it always has been (to kick it off we get a non-food focused Panama and then Turkey with almost nothing but food!). As far as influencing the show, like I said, it is not evident. Now, you can be all conspiracy theory and say it was all a plot by big bad Chase to send him to Turkey so he can eat at this place that they own and hang out with the cute chick who in reality works for Chase PR. I don't buy that because the show would've worked exactly the same with or without Chase and a 2.5 second plug for them helped pay the bill. With DVR and TiVo most advertiser are resorting to one trick or another to get you to see their products. That's all there is to it. Again, when he starts shilling for a food-related company/product that I am pretty sure he does not believe in, I'll be the first to bash him as a sellout. When on Top Chef, the contestants are asked to improvise a meal using nothing but "Product X", that's how you know advertisers, in this case whoever makes "Product X", ARE influencing content and script. Figured and example might help.

Hey I am a huge Tony fan from way back. The folks of Top Chef have never claimed to be anything more than what they are, a vehicle for Bravo to make as much advertising revenue as they can. Tony on the other hand has long expressed revulsion with the sellouts and "Applebys' Hawkers" of the food world. I think it is time that Bad Tony reflect on what makes him so special to the world. A clue, it does not involve shilling for credit cards from the evilest of empires. Many have expressed that we, the unwashed, just don't understand Bad Tony's newly found vehicle of irony and the profound use of the tongue in cheek. Advertising for Cialis or adult diapers would have been funny, shilling for the entity that threatens the very existence of this country is neither funny or cool. Bob I think we are going a bit too crazy here. Sure, the Chase thing was blatant and bit annoying, but kinda funny. Sort of like when Tina Fey on 30 Rock blatantly "endorses" something with a wink. Point being, the show has expenses and someone needs to pay them. Why is this "selling out"? If he starts eating at Applebee's or praising the awesome cuisine of TGI Friday's, then it's a different story. I remember when Bayless did that stupid commercial for Burger King. That was "selling out". The way I see it, it's a plug for a damn credit card, whether it's Chase, Amex or Visa. It does not matter and has no real impact on the content of the show!

I really would never have thought to: 1- brine the scallops 2- cook them for as long as Keller suggests before flipping. This seems so simple and obvious now that I've tried it, but you know what they say about hindsight. I bought the largest and best sea scallops I could find. In my neck of the woods, this meant a trip to Whole Foods and about $2.5/scallop. These came out to about 8 pieces per lb. I cooked them in a cast iron skillet and let them go for about 3 and half minutes on the first side in very hot clarified butter. I flipped with a pair of tongs and cooked for another 2 minutes...or maybe a bit less on the other side. They came out perfect, moist and delicious with a wonderful texture. To serve them I prepared a Meyer lemon risotto (lightened it a bit by not adding any cheese and very little butter) and parsley oil.

Elie, did you toast the nori? I think he says it's optional, but I think it's necessary. You reversed the pork belly order too, I see. Has anyone had success with the book order? Good point about the nori. I did not toast them and their flavor was a bit too overpowering. I more often than not will have pieces of pork belly cooked sous vide and frozen, then simply seared slowly until crispy and used in whatever. This was just one of those and was not cooked or seasoned specifically for ramen. I think it was bagged with only salt, pepper and a little lard.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I could not wait to dig in and started with the ramen recipe. I made the ramen for dinner this weekend. The broth was made and frozen a couple of weeks ago. I had the pork belly cooked sous vide and frozen a while back as well, then crisped in a cast iron skillet and sliced. I followed the book recipe in every other way and was very happy with how good the pork shoulder came out considering that it had no other seasoning than salt and sugar. I cooked the eggs in my immersion circulator at 63C for 45 minutes. This was delicious and it's great to know that I have about another 1.5 quarts of ramen broth in the freezer. I was not crazy about the nori sheets in there, so I think I will omit those next time. Oh, and definitely make pickled shiitakes with the mushrooms from the stock. they are addictive and go great with the soup.

With something like Konbu one simply steeps it and removes when making dashi or else the broth turns bitter due to over-extraction according to Shizuo Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking". Cooking the mushrooms for a long time in the broth will probably make it cloudy and maybe impart an undesirable taste. That's not that different than what Ruhlman recommends of not simmering the vegetables in the stock. I follow his guidelines as well and only add those during the last hour. I guess one can do the same thing here and add the Konbu and mushrooms at the end after cooking the meat and bones for a long time.

For those who might not memorize every single ratio, it might be helpful to have an app handy. It's a convenience thing like most modern technology.

Well, seems to me that you just did not get it, my initial comment I mean. It's figure of speech. It's like saying "I just cannot believe you said that, that's just wrong". I say the same thing to those who tell me they do not like French fries, chocolate or peanut butter. That's wrong. Hope that helps. I do believe that to expect easy recipes with short lists from a book like the French Laundry is that person's problem and not a failure of the book.

If one is talking about expectations and disappointment, I don't see how anyone's opinions can be "wrong." Certainly the one recipe I tried out of Ad Hoc (the pave potatoes) was a disappointment. They weren't bad, but they weren't worth the amount of time and effort that I put into them. Sure, the recipe "worked," but that's not the only criterion I judge by. Sure people's opinions can be wrong. I have the same argument with people about movies (or music) all the time. The whole "well, this is my opinion and I am entitled to it" argument does not make necessarily make anyone right and my retort goes along the lines of "sure you are, but in my opinion you are wrong for the following reasons...". I have no problem with your example. Seems to be a matter of taste, but I would say it would be unfair to judge a whole book by it. I am referring the complaint about the exacting and technique-heavy recipes with long ingredients lists. That is simply the way he cooks at his restaurants and if you buy FL, Bouchon or Under Pressure expecting anything less, then that is not the author's fault. The best he could do is provide you with well-tested and reproduce-able recipes in a very well written and engaging book. I said that Trabocchi book was a dud and I gave specific reasons. His recipes were crap and the content was boring.

It really is wrong to see any of Keller's books listed in this thread. The recipes are long? The ingredients are to precious? The food too refined? Of course!! That's what he does and he provided those recipes for whoever wants to recreate them or simply wants to be a better cook. He never made The French Laundry or Bouchon specifically for The Home Cook. The only dissapointment should result if the recipes do not work or if the writing is bad (ref. Bakewise). Otherwise, this is simply an issue of misguided expectations. I also love China Moon. The recipes are restaurant recipes also but they work and result in delicious food. The basics, like oils and pickles, alone are worth the price. The major dissapointment for me was The Cuisine of La Marche by Fabbio Trabbochi. I promptly returned it after 3 failed recipes and got my money back. Looked to me like he penned the book down and never tested any of it. Add to that the very non-regional specific recipes and it's a dud.

Pork and Chicken Tourte from Languedoc I am a sucker for rustic pies, tarts or pizzas, so the tourte on page 250 immediately stood out. A dough made with lard and a filling of pork chicken and pancetta. I could not wait to give this a shot. Due to my travel schedule, I actually had to make all the components, including the terra cotta dish with the dough already rolled in it, and freeze them (I did not freeze the onions/porcini mixture though). When it was time to bake I assembled everything and popped it in the oven. I did make an opening in the top crust, but did not put in a small funnel. In hindsight maybe I should've. Here it is assembled minus the top crust Here is the setup I used. I put my FibraMent baking stone on the top rack to aid proper browning I served it with a simple salad The tourte was delicious, fragrant and savory. The flavor of thyme, pork and porcini was wonderful. The crust was simply perfect, flaky, tender and very easy to work with. The filling was a bit too wet and I'm thinking the small funnel might've helped with that. I do think when I do this again, I will use boneless skinless chicken thighs as opposed to breast pieces. I like them better and I think they are much less prone to drying out.

Several discussions going on here, as it relates to correcting salt levels in an oversalted soup, potatoes might work. I am not sure since I've never had to try it. Well, maybe I did once in a pot of beans and I think it worked, but that was a long time ago. Do they suck water like sponges as Wolke suggests? I'm firmly with ChefCrash here. Hell no. Wolke is nuts. It's sort of like the argument that mushrooms cannot be washed because they are "sponges". Again bullcrap. Alton Brown weighed mushrooms, soaked them in water and re-weighed them. 2 lbs gained maybe a couple of grams. Probably due to a couple of tablespoons stuck in some of the caps. Back to the potato, It makes perfect sense to cook potatoes in salted water. They do come out tasty and salted, but not watery. Even if you cook the heck out of them, like Heston Blumenthal does for his fried potatoes, once you remove them from water, they are not soaking wet and drenched in water. Chris, why would you say that adding the potato is diluting the soup? Due to the starch it adds? How is it like adding water? If you add water, the stock is diluted and then when you remove the exact same volume of liquid, you are not just removing the water you added, you are removing diluted stock. The potatoes are not soaking much stock if any and can easily be removed.

What is the Transglutaminase "shelf-life". At L'epicerie they ask for it to be stored in the freezer and used ASAP after the package is opened. So if I by a couple of pounds can I store any unused in the freezer and go through it in a matter of a year or so? Or do I only have weeks??

Seems like The cauliflower soup is the one to start with. Excellent work Oliver. I am so excited to go to the book signing in Houston this week, and from what I hear they will also be offering samples of the cauliflower soup.

I am just talking about the Fat Duck cookbook. I've never seen the TV show, so I cannot speak to that. My guess is you can make a version of the recipe, but really not the exact same thing he is making at the restaurant and the one he gives instructions for in the book. If there is an easier way to achieve the exact same thing without costly equipment, why would he not just do that. In the intro to the recipe he makes a point of highlighting how important big bubbles are. Either way, I was just giving an example and again, this is not the topic to discuss FD.

Oliver- I am a bit confused by your statement about Sous Vide at home cooking. That it's like cheating. Can you elaborate. I do not want to go OT here so maybe the great Sous Vide thread is a good venue for this. I am curious why you would say that. More OT. I also disagree about your fat duck vs. Alinea cookbook comparison. To me the fat duck has many more "out there" recipes. Sure, Alinea usually has many more components but with time and organization I do not think a single recipe actually needs a special piece of equipment. FD on the other hand is also brilliant but without a centrifuge you cannot make the Chocolate Wine recipe and without the vacuum you cannot make the aereated chocolate. Some FD concepts are so out there that even though no special equipment is needed I will not try them at home, like the sardine and toast sorbet. Sure I would love to try them at FD but not at home where I will be stuck with a gallon of fish flavored sorbet. I think so far I have cooked 4 or 5 recipes verbatim from Alinea (I posted some here and some on my blog), the most involved is the buckwheat ice cream and coffee capsules with passion fruit and mint recipe. I have used many Alinea components and techniques in my own dishes though. I think that is the best use for Alinea and FD at home.

First time doing duck breast sous vide. I prepared a dish inspired by an Alinea recipe that combines duck, pumpkin, banana and Thai flavors. I know many have recommended removing the skin and crisping it separately, but I have a very good result leaving it on and cooking the skin side over low heat after CSV. Here is the dish.

Thanks for the tip about the yeasts. I have not read Farmhouse Ales, but I think it will be on my list soon.

He did not boil it, he steamed it actually. Boiling leaches flavor. Then it was coated with what he called "fat". I am assuming in this case it's duck fat, not a neutral oil. That would explain why in a blind taste test it showed no difference than a proper confit. It's interesting what we find out when we question some long held cooking beliefs. A few years ago it was the whole idea of "Sear the meat to keep the juices in" that many well respected chefs and cookbook authors still tout. It's simply wrong.

Chris and others- I am hoping to make a Bier do Garde style ale soon and have an all-grain recipe formulated. I've been reading that this ale style needs lagering. Is this true and a requirement? I really do not have the ability to store my fermenter at any temperature below 65-70F right now. Should I abandon this particular style and try something else? Here is the proposed recipe: BdeG Style: Bière de Garde Type: All grain Size: 5.0 gallons Color: 19 HCU (~11 SRM) Bitterness: 22 IBU OG: 1.067 FG: 1.011 Alcohol: 7.2% v/v (5.6% w/w) Grain: 5.0 lb. Belgian pale 4.20 lb. German Light Munich 0.50 lb. British brown 0.50 lb. Melanoidin Malt 0.8 lb. Rye Malt 0.25 lb. Oat Flakes Mash: 70% efficiency Mash at 155-158° F Boil: 70 minutes SG 1.056 6.0 gallons 8 oz. Belgian candi sugar 8 oz. Cane sugar Hops: 0.75 oz. Fuggles (4.75% AA, 60 min.) 0.55 oz. Eroica (12% AA, 15 min.) Yeast: White Labs European/Belgian Ale Carbonation: 2.6 volumes Corn Sugar: 4.74 oz. for 5 gallons @ 70°F

We ate it the Pork and Mushroom Daube leftovers for a day or two, simply reheated, but with the gelatin rich sauce that this stew has, I wanted to try something else. I separated the solids from the cooking liquid and chopped everything coarsely. I reduced the cooking liquid a bit more, tossed it back with the chopped solids and added a bit more seasoning. Since this will be served cold, a bit more salt is a good idea. I packed it in a terrine and refrigerated it till it gelled solid. Served with cornichons and good Pomery mustard this is elegant and delicious. Since I did not mince everything, the terrine did not slice perfectly, but I love the coarse texture I got by hand chopping.

That is definitely a question for Paula, Richard. I am not sure what the answer is but, I'd be interested to know as well.